We were talking about a neighbor who died this past year.

Two days before dying, she confessed to a friend, "I'm afraid of death. I never really lived. I had these dreams I wanted to do. I had these places I wanted to visit."

How tragic. And I wondered, "Was there anything in her life that would have allowed us to see her life ending like this?"

I asked Karen about it and she said, "Yeah, she was always concerned with doing things the right way. She was concerned with appearances. I tried to keep my distance from her."

It's a sad story, but it gives me courage. We live in an overcautious society that is perpetually measuring risk. We parse it out in dribbles. Too many of us, having believed the lie about what we can't do, never learn what we can do. We never put our trust in a God who wants to do "exceeding abundantly."

I've made it my ambition to live life without regrets. I want to suck the marrow out.*

I don't want to wind up looking back and wishing I'd had the courage to commit to my dreams.

How about you? What dreams will you commit to in 2012?

* For inspiration, please read Thoreau's Walden Pond.